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Although the UK is only just on the cusp of winter 2012, many motorists with an interest in campervan insurance will already be planning their 2013 spring and summer holidays, and with this in mind one of the UK’s largest camping clubs is bringing forward the release of its pitch prices for next year.
The Caravan Club, often known as the Friendly Club, has decided to release pitch prices on November 5th this year and expect enquiries to rocket! Although this is a full four weeks before members can start booking it will give mobile home owners the chance to plot a holiday in detail before they go online to book. It also gives them time to think of alternatives just in case their first choice sites are already gone by the time they manage to reserve their place.
Although this may sound ludicrous for a club that has over 200 sites and over 2,500 certified locations but the first day of booking last year saw 31,000 bookings made in the first hour and over 70,000 by the end of the first day.
Peter Martin, head of membership services at the club, is in no doubt that Go Live 2012 (the first day of booking) will be just as busy this year, and said “We hope that by releasing the prices early, members will have time to really think about where they want to visit and have more chance to research the area and work out their budget. This in turn gives them the opportunity to try new places and plan new adventures. Many of our members have their old favourites‚ but we have many new sites on the network and this system will hopefully allow them to discover some new favourite sites.”
Staff at the clubs headquarters in East Grinstead are already gearing up for the first day of booking and members should be aware that December 5th is the day they should be up early and ready to reserve their places.


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Search for ‘fashion sustainability’ and it makes for grim reading. Second to oil, the fashion and textiles industry is the largest polluter in the world, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. Every stage in a garment’s life threatens the planet’s natural resources, from crop and fibre production, dyeing and finishing processes to manufacturing and distribution. If you were to buy a single T-shirt and a pair of jeans, it would take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce the 1kg of cotton required to make them. Add to that the impact of toxic chemicals found in pesticides, bleach and dyes. Consider the carbon footprint clocked up in the supply chain as the raw fibre is transported to be made into fabric, then shipped to the factory to be made into clothes, then distributed to stores all over the world. Think of the energy these vast stores consume, the mannequins and materials on which they’re displayed. And what if said T-shirt and jeans don’t sell, or if they do but get damaged, don’t fit any more or fall out of style? Last year, the UK sent 235 million items of clothing to landfill.
The good news is that sustainability has become part of the corporate agenda, even now being set out by retail monoliths like Zara. Earlier this month, Grazia was invited to the Spanish retailer’s headquarters in Arteixo, just outside A Coruña on the northwestern tip of Spain, to see the full scale of its green commitments and environmental goals. A briefing with the company’s top brass in the hi-tech campus revealed that Zara’s 2,232 stores will meet the company’s eco-efficient standard by the end of this year. By 2020, Zara’s factories will aim to produce zero discharge of hazardous chemicals for all products at every stage of the supply chain, while all collections will use sustainable cotton, linen and recycled polyester by 2025. The company is also committed to producing zero landfill waste from its logistic centres and headquarters by 2023 and those same Zara facilities are driving towards using 80 per cent clean energy before 2025.
‘We want to be a force for change, not just in the company but the whole sector,’ said Pablo Isla, executive chairman of Zara’s owner Inditex, the largest clothes producer in the world – and also the cleanest, according to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which in 2018 named the company most sustainable retailer for the third year in a row. ‘We really don’t identify ourselves as fast fashion,’ he added. ‘It’s not about being fast, it is being flexible. Giving the customer what they want but at the same time the care we take over each garment is unique. We believe in “less is more” and “quality over quantity”.’
A commitment to cutting waste is part of the Zara ethos: a stringently controlled and agile supply chain with manufacturing in close proximity, in Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco, means that lead times are shortened and it need commit to only a small percentage of production at a time, minimising waste of money, resources and stock. It also means that Zara can swiftly respond to customer feedback and replenish stores weekly with the right trend dropping at the right time. Zara has also developed hi-tech radio frequency tags that track the life of every garment until the moment it is sold – and claims it never disposes of a garment.
Still, this is a fast fashion behemoth, producing over 450 million items a year. When asked about the negative attitude in the media about the impact of fast fashion
or whether the company had come under pressure from government policy makers, Isla said: ‘We are a global company and we are involved in the concerns of public opinion about sustainability worldwide. But we are not driven by political policies. This is our own approach, and everything connected with sustainability is a work in progress.’
In 2015, Zara also created the ‘Join Life’ collection, a label indicating products made from the most sustainable raw materials – organic cotton, Tencel™ Lyocell and recycled polyester, which will account for 20 per ent of Zara’s collections by the end of this year – a figure expected to rise over the next five years. On top of this, Zara has already eliminated single-use plastic bags; its bags are 100 per cent recycled as are its cardboard online boxes.
Our tour of Zara HQ begins with the online floor, where a giant screen shows that 60,259 people are currently browsing zara.com. The constantly whirring figures are broken down by country – by far the most engaged is Spain with 11,150, versus 3,288 currently connected in the UK. Still, it is only 10am. Another screen shows what they are looking for. Not surprisingly in July, dresses outnumber everything else.
Last year, Zara’s online business generated €3.2 billion in sales from 46 different markets, we are told, before we move onto the photographic studios. There are 31 studios, six of which we see in operation with top models variously posing in new designs. They shoot 15 to 20 looks a day; that’s about 500 new designs a week, 20,000 a year. Today is Thursday and these shots – the images of which are tightly controlled by an in-house roster of 20 photographers – will be up online by Monday.
Next stop, the design studios. ‘We are always under-buying, because customers like limited runs of things,’ explains Marta Ortega, daughter of multi-billioniare Zara founder, Amancio Ortega, the second richest man in Europe. Marta has no official title but is part of the senior executive staff of Zara Woman and supervises brand product and image. She wears an elegant beige trouser suit that looks expensive. ‘It’s Zara! Not out yet!’ She explains how daily feedback from stores and constant sales analytics from online control what is made when; there’s no point finishing winter coat designs until the customer needs said winter coat which, with this year’s warm weather, is predicted to be early October. It can take as little as 15 days from design and production to reach store shelves.
Designers work on prototypes on tiny mannequins in order to use less fabric. ‘Our girl for this capsule collection is a bit edgy and irreverent,’ says a young man with an American accent as his Asian colleague drapes a miniscule toga – Zara is proud of its designer recruitment, which selects graduates from all the best colleges around the world. We whizz through the sewing floor and the whir of machines and past the almost silent cutting rooms where 37 pattern cutters are careful to create one sleeve or a single collar, not two, and constantly re-use patterns.
Part of the brand’s success is its of-the-moment design (watch out for the big ’80s trend – all punchy brights, big shoulders and voluminous sleeves, heading to a Zara any moment now) but every item needs to pass the hanger test. This is done in full-sized shop floors – Zara ‘mock shops’, of which there are six (for Woman, Man, Basic, two for kids and one for Zara Home) that are redressed twice a week – the better to see how the customer will experience everything in-store.
So, who is the Zara customer? ‘All ages. Because everyone goes to Zara. Why? Because any trend we want to have, Zara will have it first,’ says Beatriz Padin, head of Zara Woman. We move on to a vast showroom where Vicente Lillo, Zara’s head of store window design, explains how each window and in-store display uses 40 per cent recycled materials. ‘Like this, the floor is made from old gardening furniture. Almost everything is re-used,’ he says. That goes for the extra-long-legged Zara mannequins. New in-store displays are turned around every three to four months and all clothing hangers are recycled.
An elevator takes us down to the factory floor where Marta greets Pilar (‘Pili’) Vásquez, the factory director for over 40 years, like an old family friend. She demonstrates how her state-of-the-art computer ‘reads’ the fabric and instructs where all the pattern parts should be placed in order to eliminate as much wasted fabric as possible. A wall of red sequinned jackets (not the greenest of items to be seen on our sustainability tour) hang from a ceiling conveyor belt about to be transported to the distribution centre. There are three Zara logistic centres, this one in Arteixo distributes 3.5 million garments every week. At least the cardboard shipping boxes look suitably bashed-up and re-used as they fly around our heads on a roller coaster of chutes and slides, destined for distribution to 96 countries.
By 2020, Zara will have invested $3.5m in textile recycling technology through its initiative with the Global Fashion Fund and $4m with MIT in a joint pursuit of sustainable research, along with other ongoing initiatives. You could argue that these figures are a drop in the ocean for Zara’s owner Inditex, which hit sales of €26.1 billion for the year ending 31 January. But every little bit that this retail empire does, from auditing its 12,000 suppliers and through every stage of production and distribution, is a lot better than doing nothing at all. You could also argue that Zara’s biggest task is to educate its customers. Next year, you will be able to drop off any unwanted garments – Zara or not – in containers in any of its stores in the world. Zara is working with an array of NGOs like Oxfam, The Red Cross, Caritas and The Salvation Army for re-sale and recycling. Of course, it makes savvy business sense for Zara to align itself with positive eco values and broadcast its green agenda in a world that is becoming increasingly woke to fashion’s sustainability crisis.
So what does this all mean for us? It’s time to think more sustainably about our own wardrobes. To ask questions about how and where our clothes were made. And to buy fashion that will make us feel good for more than a month.

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I was fortunate enough the be present at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show when Christian von Koenigsegg unveiled the then brand new Jesko to the gathered press during his conference, the bright white hypercar with the massive rear wing attracted a lot of attention, and we found out it wouldn’t even be the fastest version, back in 2019 they mentioned a Jesko 300, which we now know is called the Jesko Absolut, but back to 2019, and just two days before the car had to be sent to Switzerland, it wasn’t even finished, they were still working hard on putting this beauty together, but no worries, they made it.
Top Gear actually did a video during their visit to Koenigsegg Automotive AB in Ängelholm, Skåne County, Sweden, just a few days ahead of the public unveiling of the Koenigsegg Jesko in Geneva, and it is a very interesting behind the scenes look at how these cars are usually finished just in time for such a major event, or in some case, almost, but not quite finished, and while we now know the Jesko was indeed ready to be shown to the public just a few days after this video was made, it still impressive to see what is going on inside the factory inside a former airforce hangar where 400 artisans are building these impressive Koenigsegg hypercars.
You might have noticed that there is always ghost somewhere on the Koenigsegg car to be found, and that goes back to the fact these hypercars are built inside the former hangar of Swedish oldest air force squadron, the Ghosts, we learn that the Koenigsegg Jesko had been in development for three years prior to the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, under the internal name ‘Ragnarok’, but the name Jesko was chosen for the production car in honor to Christian’s father, Jesko von Koenigsegg.
At the time the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut wasn’t built yet, and the car shown in Geneva was the track-focused Jesko, with the massive rear wing, that can be angled as an air brake mind you, a deep front splitter, and a total of 880 kgs of downforce, which is too much to reach speeds in excess of 300 mph, but their simulations at the time, with a different aero package, would theoretically show the Jesko 300 to go even faster than 300 mph.
The problem with actually testing these kinds of speed in real life is that it takes a massive amount of preparation, not only finding a stretch of road long enough to do in two directions, but it also has to be safe, for the driver, for the car itself, and for the surrounding wildlife … imagine striking a bird that decides to fly over the road when you are approaching at 300 mph …
The Koenigsegg Jesko has a starting price of $2,800,000 before taxes, and before options, and with a hand-built car like a Koenigsegg, the sky is the limit, as they say, you can spec your very own Jesko to your liking, taking a look at the Geneva Show car you might notice those stunning carbon-fiber wheels … those are not included in that $2.8 million pricetag, they are a $65,000 option! But what’s even more interesting, the tire is two times heavier than the wheel itself.
The Koenigsegg Jesko is not a hybrid, she comes with a 5-Liter V8 engine that delivers a massive 1,600 hp on E85 fuel, coupled to the in-house developed gearbox, this is the fastest revving engine in any production car, and while these days people are asking more and more for a clear carbon fiber body, it usually takes between 600 and 800 hours to paint a Koenigsegg, they actually clear coat and sand down the carbon fiber panels three times in a row before they even add a splash of color on top.
And then you still have all the smaller carbon fiber parts and aluminum parts that need to be polished before they are fitted onto the Koenigsegg, which takes another 200 hours of skilled work, even the wiring loom is hand made at the factory, adding wires to a vertical panel with a map fixed on it, very impressive indeed.
Top Gear Magazine’s Jack Rixwill take you on a tour of the Koenigsegg factory, right at the time they are finishing up the Jesko prototype to be taken to Geneva in March 2019 … enjoy the video below:
November 25, 2021 / Comments Off on Building the 300 mph Koenigsegg Jesko
If history was just a little off back in the Nineties we would have seen a totally different Lamborghini Diablo on the road at that time, but with Chrysler taking over the Sant’Agata company, the original Marcello Gandini design for the Lamborghini Countach successor was rejected and a small sidestep was taken with a Zagato design until the design studio from Chrysler in the US together with Gandini created the Lamborghini Diablo we know today … but Marcello’s original design wouldn’t be lost in the archives.
Claudio Zampolli, a former Lamborghini test driver and development engineer moved to the United States in the eighties to start an exotic car service point, but his dream was to build an exotic car himself, long story short, Zampoli teamed up with Giorgio Moroder, a famous music composer, and producer, in the late eighties to build a car the likes the world had never seen before … a 6-Liter, V16 supercar.
As usual in business deals that involve a lot of money or the creation of a brand new car maker with their first model being built from scratch, problems came up during the build, and due to delays in building the first prototype, Giorgio Moroder pulled out of the deal before the first customer car was ever finished, only a prototype show car was completed, which is the only one in the world that comes with the Cizeta Moroder name tag, the subsequent production cars were just called the Cizeta V16T.
The world hadn’t seen many V16 cars, and that’s exactly why Claudio Zampolli wanted his supercar to come with this exotic engine, he actually combined two V-8 engines to achieve a 6-Liter V16 engine coupled to a five-speed gearbox, and while no horsepower figures were ever published, the Cizeta V16T should reach 328 km/h (204 mph) and accelerate to 60 mph in 4 seconds … naturally, such an exotic car needed a bespoke body design that would be equally impressive as the engine itself.
The design of the Cizeta V16T was clearly inspired by Gandini’s original design for the Lamborghini Diablo, but Zampoli did ask to drop the famous upward-opening doors, on the Cizeta the doors open in a regular fashion, to the side, but you have to admire the way the Cizeta headlights work … remember we’re talking late eighties, early nineties, and pop-up headlights were in style at that time, and with a V16 engine behind the seats, why not go for a total of four pop-up pods holding lights at the front.
This Cizeta Moroder V16T prototype, chassis 001, was the official show car at the 1989 Geneva Motor Show, but it would take two more years before the first production car was sold to a customer, in 1991, with an MSRP of $650,000 (compare that to a Lamborghini Diablo that was $290,000 back in 1991), and while the Cizeta V16T was an incredible looking car, in the end only 9 customer cars were ever made, at an auction held by RM Sotheby’s back in January 2021 one of the RHD production models was sold for $668,000, but the car we are looking at in this article is even more exclusive.
For one this is the actual prototype, the only car that is called the Cizeta Moroder V16T and the one with a large number of horizontal slats on the side intake, the production cars came with vertical slots, apart from the special RHD model at the 1993 Geneva Show that also came with horizontal slats, 6 in total, this prototype has seven in total. This prototype is also the only model with this dashboard and steering wheel, both were changed for the nine production cars, in fact just about the entire interior was altered before the first customer car left the assembly line.
Chassis number 001 was unveiled in Los Angeles on December 5, 1988, during an event hosted by none other than Jay Leno, later the car would be shipped to Los Angeles for the Auto Show and all the way to Switzerland for the March 1989 Geneva Motor Show, finished in pearl-white metallic over a bright red leather interior, the car would remain in this color combination throughout its entire life, and more importantly, the car was owned by Giorgio Moroder ever since, he kept her in storage for all these years.
However, we are talking about a 30-year-old prototype car here, so over time there are bound to be some issues, being in storage for decades isn’t necessarily a good thing, so in 2018 Moroder decided to have Canepa Design do a full mechanical restoration, the latter found that this functional prototype needed some improvements made to make sure it could be used on the open road like for instance extra heat shielding around the fuel tanks. After the team at Canepa Design was happy with the mechanicals they took the car on a road test to make sure she was completely sorted before returning her to Mr. Moroder.
Today Giorgio Moroder decided it was time to part with this illustrious prototype, the one and only Cizeta Moroder V16T in the world, chassis 001 of less than 15 cars ever made, one single Cizeta Moroder V16T and 12 or 13 Cizeta V16T, the opportunity to obtain an actual show car prototype rarely comes around in a lifetime, and this one is looking you right into the eyes, the RM Sotheby’s auction listing isn’t even showing an estimate on this one for their Arizona action on January 27, 2022, but with the 1993 model sold in January 2021 for $665,000, my guess is this one will go over the $1,000,000 mark in a few months.
November 19, 2021 / Comments Off on The Cizeta-Moroder V16T prototype is for sale
The organizer of the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS), Comité permanent du Salon international de l’automobile has recently announced the postponement of the event to 2023. The event was postponed due to the industry-wide issues that is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the February 2022 event has been cancelled, steps have already been taken to improve the platform and it will continue to be implemented to be able to create a more impactful show come 2023.
The best interests of both the car manufacturers and the automotive fans were at the forefront with regards to the decision to cancel GIMS 2022. The organizers were left with no alternative due to the direct and indirect issues that were plaguing the event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The direct issues that the organizers had to face were the continued travel restrictions that visitors, journalists, and international exhibitors had to face. Some of the indirect issues brought by the pandemic include the semiconductor shortage, which has given car manufacturers new issues that they would have to prioritize and resolve first. The said issues ended with recent cancellations to the event, so the organizers have decided to formally confirm and announce the postponement of the event.
Comité permanent du Salon international de l’automobile President Maurice Turrettini shared, “We have pushed very hard and tried everything to reactivate the Geneva International Motor Show in 2022. Despite all our efforts, we have to face the facts and the reality: the pandemic situation is not under control and presents itself as a big threat for a large indoor event like GIMS. But we see this decision as a postponement, rather than a cancellation. I am confident that the Geneva International Motor Show will come back stronger than ever in 2023.”
Geneva International Motor Show CEO Sandro Mesquita stated, “Many exhibitors have indicated that the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic make it impossible for them to make a firm commitment for GIMS 2022. On top of this is the negative impact that the current shortage of semiconductors has on car manufacturers. The chip crisis is likely to drag on well into next year, with negative financial implications for OEMs. In these uncertain times, many brands are therefore unable to make a commitment to participate in a trade fair that would have taken place in just over four months. When considering all the factors, it became clear that it was necessary to postpone the show, and to announce the news sooner than later to avoid cancelling at short notice.”
The excitement over the new GIMS platform has been building up for the past several months as it promised to engage more people all over the world with its new digital ecosystem, providing an overall enhanced experience. The platform is still being processed to carry it to its full potential for the 2023 event.
The Geneva International Motor Show is a much awaited annual even by automotive enthusiasts since well-respected marques normally reserve the prestigious event to launch their latest sports cars and supercars.
October 12, 2021 / Comments Off on Geneva International Motor Show Moved To 2023
Introduced at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the Rimac C_Two, also referred to as the Concept Two, boasted some really impressive figures: 1,914 hp with a top speed of 412 km/h (258 mph). Rimac calls it the new breed of hypercar, with acceleration figures of 1.85 seconds to reach 60 mph from standstill, this might be the closest thing to launching a jet fighter from an aircraft carrier on the road.
Using butterfly doors Rimac avoids having wide sills, getting into the C_Two, which will not be the name used for the production version, is made a lot easier by a cut out in the roof too, this might be a very practical ultra-high-performance car when customers finally receive their cars.
And this is where things get complicated it seems, some sources state the limited production run of 150 units sold out quickly, but Rimac’s CEO and founder Mate Rimac recently put an interesting post on is social media. It seems only the first year of production is actually sold, not all 150 cars, and furthermore, most of the cars that are on the books will go to dealers, not customers.
Mate Rimac clarifies that while many people are extremely interested in this fully electric hypercar, not many are willing to commit to the $2,000,000 price that has been mentioned, before being able to actually test drive the car. That’s right, there isn’t a Rimac C_Two available at this time, a few hand-built prototypes are finished and have been going through intensive testing … but there isn’t a single car ready for possible customers to touch, feel, and drive.
And this is where according the Mate Rimac the big issue comes from, and anybody who wants to put a Rimac C_Two in his garage is still able to get his name into the order book, probably even on the pages for the first year of production, so don’t worry, it isn’t too late … yet.
January 24, 2021 / Comments Off on The Rimac C_Two could be yours for about $2 million
Fabrizio and Giorgetto Giugiaro, the father-son duo who paired up to create automotive company GFG Style, have been swept up in the wave of the times and gone all-in on electric. In the past four months, GFG Style unveiled three new concept vehicles, all of which use batteries and electric motors for propulsion. The Vision 2030 and Vision 2030 Desert Raid offer new perspectives on off-road-ready supercars, and the Bandini Dora evokes Italian history in a stylish barchetta.
GFG Style started in 2015 and has been hard at work envisioning the future of the automobile. Since opening its doors, the design and consultation firm has crafted seven concept cars, including the Kangaroo, an electric all-terrain supercar that was one of the coolest and most interesting vehicles at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. It seems Fabrizio and Giorgetto couldn’t get the core conceptual nature of the Kangaroo out of their minds, as they debuted another all-terrain EV called the Vision 2030 in November 2019 at the Riyadh Motor Show in Saudi Arabia.
Pegged as a zero-emission all-wheel-drive hypercar designed for Saudi Arabian roads, the Vision 2030 is named after Saudi Vision 2030, a plan to help the country diversify its core businesses and move away from an independence on oil. “Saudi Arabia asked us to design a model that would perfectly adapt to their region, made up of completely new and decidedly wide roads, but also of deserts with dunes and rough terrains,” Fabrizio said in a press release. Fabrizio continued that the point of the car was a design study in wheels and suspension, which largely dictated the shape of the carbon fiber and aluminum car.
To accommodate the multiple types of terrain, the car’s suspension automatically adjusts based on driving conditions. The Vision 2030 also offers three driving modes, Race, Road and Off-Road, which change the ground clearance between 5.5 to 8.7 inches. Inside, six different digital screens ensure the car is properly connected and the driver is properly informed.
GFG Style says the two-seater Vision 2030 has a 90-kWh battery pack and a single-charge electric range of more than 280 miles. It makes a claimed 510 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0-62-mph sprint in 3.8 seconds.
Vision 2030 Desert Raid
The Desert Raid is one of two concepts that were originally intended to debut at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show before it was canceled due to precautions surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. As indicated by the name, the Desert Raid is an alternate variation of the Vision 2030. GFG Style says the Desert Raid underlines “the true capacity of this project: not to become a hypercar but a hyperSUV.”
The Desert Raid has the same battery, power, and general performance specifications as the Vision 2030, as they share the same electric powertrain setup. The bodywork, save for the rear, is also the same, but small tweaks make this vehicle specialized for off-roading. Whereas the Vision 2030 had multiple driving modes, this version only has one setup skewed toward handling rough terrain. Thus, it remains at 8.7 inches of ground clearance at all times. It also has a wider track, smaller wheels, new carbon fiber mudguards, and a visible spare tire integrated into the top rear portion of the car.
The second prototype meant for Geneva is the Bandini Dora. Like the other prototypes, it has a space frame aluminum chassis, carbon fiber bodywork, and a 90-kWh battery pack that provides a claimed range of more than 280 miles per full charge. Compared to the Vision 2030 cars, however, the Dora is slightly more amped up. Two electric motors, one on each axle, account for 536 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque. Equipped with all-wheel drive, the Dora has a claimed 0-62-mph time of 3.3 seconds.
Riding on 21-inch wheels, the Dora is the work of a collaboration with Bandini, an Italian manufacturer founded by Ilario Bandini that originally ran from 1946 until 1992. The company was resurrected as Bandini Automobili s.r.l, thanks to Ilario’s great grandson Michele, and this car is meant to be an ode to Bandini barchetta race cars of decades past. GFG Style’s Geneva stand was planned to include a Bandini 750 Sport Internazionale from the Mille Miglia Museum.
The Bandini Dora is an open-top two-seater, but its clever design is unlike anything of the past or present. Look closely, and the lines reveal that the windshield and encapsulated cockpit are entirely separate from the car’s roof arches. This was the result of blending old design with new safety standards.
“Today, it is difficult to conceive a Barchetta without considering the evolution there has been in the car concerning safety,” Giugiaro was quoted in the press release. “Inspired by the Halo of Formula One, we thought about creating a car that had a clean windshield as it used to be used with no reinforcements, thus being as linear and light as possible. To solve this need, I thought of an out-and-out superstructure that would integrate into the style with an accentuated structural and protective function for both the driver and passenger.”
To properly appreciate the affect this design has on the car, it must be looked at from all angles. The prominent lines extends from the front bumper, curve over the front wheels, and swoop inward toward the rear to become part of the active aerodynamics. Because they don’t connect with the glass at any point, they creates all types of negative spaces, intersections, and design features that you just don’t see on normal cars. From the front, it almost looks as if one car has overtaken another car that lives beneath it.
For now, all three vehicles are just prototypes. The video below shows a press conference in which GFG Style announced the new designs.
March 16, 2020 / Comments Off on GFG Style evolves Giugiaro design in the Bandini Dora and Vision 2030 Desert Raid
The roofless, windshield-less, ultra-rare, ultra-expensive supercar space is getting busy. We had the Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2; then we got the McLaren Elva, and now the Aston Martin V12 Speedster is joining the ranks. McLaren will let you add a windshield to the Elva, but there’s no mention of glass when it comes to the Aston. Invest in some sturdy goggles.
Revealed at Aston Martin’s Gaydon HQ (instead of the canceled Geneva Motor Show), the V12 Speedster is designed to provide the most visceral driving experience in the Aston lineup. There will only be 88 of them, and pricing starts at $950,000. That’s an absolute bargain compared to the Elva, which has a base price of $1.69 million. But if you’re considering buying one of these, its price is likely the last question you’ll have.
Aston says the V12 Speedster is powered by its 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12, making 700 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque. That’s mated to a ZF eight-speed automatic, sending power to the rear wheels. It’ll hit 62 mph in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 186 mph — get some heavy duty headgear for that trip. The platform itself is made by combining elements of the DBS Superleggera and Vantage. It has 21-inch forged, center-locking wheels, huge carbon ceramic brakes and adaptive dampers. But the design is what really caught our eye.
It’s billed as “a living show car,” and we completely agree. The body is made almost entirely from carbon fiber. Miles Nurnberger, director of design at Aston Martin, detailed the design’s inspiration in a statement.
“There’s clear lineage from the 1959 Le Mans winning DBR1 to our Centenary celebratory CC100 Speedster Concept in 2013,” Nurnberger says. “There is also a bit of 1953 DB3S in the mid-section, so it really is our latest incarnation of the Speedster concept. It’s also inspired by fighter jets as much as it is by our history, and it has been created to deliver an incredibly visceral experience, hence why it is a V12, rather than a V8.”
The front hood nostril is especially eye-catching. Aston hasn’t implemented this design touch on a car in a long while, and we love seeing it on a new vehicle like this. Nurnberger says it allowed for some extra space under the long hood that it needed for the V12, too.
That interior is similarly stunning. It’s separated into two distinct cockpit areas by a slab of carbon fiber, but it still allows for interaction between the two people in the car below that piece. The design, like so many supercars and sports cars before it, is said to be inspired by fighter jets. This specific spec is a special F/A-18 spec that Aston says will be available to order. It features a number of fighter jet touches throughout. You’ll get to hear the car’s roar better than other Aston’s, too, as the company developed an especially loud stainless steel exhaust system for the V12 Speedster. Its lack of a roof should make it even more audible for those in the cockpit.
Aston Martin says its order books are open now for the V12 Speedster, so it’s not completely sold out yet. Deliveries are slated to begin in the first quarter of 2021. All 88 cars will be hand-built and made to the spec you desire.
March 4, 2020 / Comments Off on Aston Martin V12 Speedster is a $950,000 exotic dream that’s wild as the wind
There’s a new BAC Mono in town, folks. It’s running under the same name as before, but the car is now entering its second generation. The ethos and purpose of the Mono hasn’t changed — it’s still a single-minded track machine with room for one. However, the design is new, and so is the powertrain.
BAC says each and every body panel was redesigned from scratch for this new model. The height was reduced by 0.79 inch, and its length was reduced by 0.98 inch. This Mono has a smaller frontal area, too, making for better aerodynamics. It has new LED lights front and back; the rear spoiler is larger, and the new design makes for a sleeker looking Mono.
Street legality was still a priority for the BAC team, and that prompted a switch to a new turbocharged engine. Keep in mind, we’re talking street legality in Europe and other countries, not the U.S. That new engine is a 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that was developed for this car by Mountune. It makes 332 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, and it also features a new dry sump oil system. BAC claims the engine meets the latest European emissions regulations and every other regulation necessary for it to be driven across the European continent. BAC says the transmission and chassis components were also updated, but didn’t specify in what way.
In true Mono fashion, though, the weight has been reduced. It now weighs 1,257 pounds, a 22-pound reduction from the previous-gen car. Thanks to its featherlight weight, performance is startling. It’ll get to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds and hit a top speed of 170 mph. BAC admits that meeting the new European emissions targets ended up adding weight to the car, but it was able to win all that weight back by shaving grams off elsewhere. It uses the lighter carbon fiber floor, AP brake calipers and carbon ceramic brakes from the Mono R. Panels are also made using graphene-enhanced carbon fiber (like the Mono R), which BAC says also reduces weight. Even the wheels are significantly lighter, with each corner saving 2.7 pounds over the previous design — each wheel weighs only 4.9 pounds now.
The Mono’s center of gravity was lowered even further, as BAC managed to lower the fuel tank and place the battery directly under the driver. Suspension geometry was “optimized,” reducing pitch under braking and maximizing rear traction. Pirelli Trofeo R tires are also fitted as standard now.
Its price is steep. You’ll be able to pick up a new Mono in the UK for £165,950. Converted to U.S. dollars, that’s about $212,000.
March 3, 2020 / Comments Off on New BAC Mono launches, and it’s even lighter than before
A week ago, LA-based Czinger teased its 21C hypercar with a video and a promise of “dominating performance.” Now that all the specs are out before the coupe’s reveal at the Geneva Motor Show, on paper at least, it appears “dominating” was the correct choice of words. We’ll start with the performance: Zero to 62 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds — making 0-60 perhaps faster; the quarter-mile in 8.1 seconds at 170 mph; zero to 186 mph and back to zero in 15 seconds; zero to 248 mph and back to zero in 29 seconds, which would eclipse the Koenigsegg Regera’s record of 31.49 seconds set last September.
Assuming the 21C can bring those numbers to life, how does the coupe do it? There’s a 2.88-liter twin-turbo V8 with a flat-plane crank stowed amidships driving the rear wheels, good for 950 horsepower. (To get a sense of the march of progress, the 2.855-liter twin-turbo V8 in the 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO produced 350 hp.) Each front wheel gets a high-powered electric motor, serving up all-wheel drive and a combined output of 1,232 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque at 10,500 rpm, 500 rpm short of redline. The 21C in standard road guise without the big rear wing has a curb weight of 1,250 kilograms (2,756 pounds), and with a metric horsepower rating of 1,250 hp, we’re talking about a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. The 21C Lightweight track-focused car with the big rear wing weighs just 1,218 kg (2,685 pounds). Shifting through a seven-speed automated manual transmission, the road car maxes out at 268 mph, the track car produces more than three times the road car’s downforce so its top speed comes in at 236 mph.
The e-motors get juice from a lithium-titanate battery, the same pack composition used by the Mitsubishi i-Miev and Honda Fit EV, an integrated starter-generator helping to deliver power where needed. Czinger says the entire powertrain was designed and is built in-house, and it’s flex-fuel — owners can fill up with Vulcanol, described as “a renewable methanol made from captured carbon dioxide,” assuming they can find it.
Czinger is only making 80 examples of the 21C, using its proprietary “vertical assembly,” 3D-printed build processes that combine carbon fiber, high-performance alloys, and other materials, topped off with book-matched carbon fiber bodywork. Road & Track has a good writeup on the production system. Company founder Kevin Czinger explained that the 3D-printed parts are expected to last the lifetime of the car, but if any need to be replaced, they can be dissolved into their original powder and reconstituted to serve a different purpose.
Each 21C comes with a reported price of $1.7 million before the obligatory options and fripperies. We look forward to checking this one out in Geneva, and we’ll take the one with the wing, please.
February 21, 2020 / Comments Off on Czinger releases full specs on 21C hybrid hypercar
For Bugatti, possibly only for Bugatti, a 1,479-horsepower coupe with a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 is just the starting point. Bugatti unveiled the Chiron in 2016 with the intent of building 500 examples, and four years later, 250 units and numerous extraordinary limited-editions have been crafted. To mark the occasion, Bugatti will show No. 250, a Chiron Sport Edition Noire Sportive, at the 2020 Geneva International Auto Show, where it all began.
Near the end of 2019, Bugatti announced two new blacked-out Chirons, one called the Chiron Noire Elegance and the other called the Chiron Noire Sportive. The Elegance model exhibits a reflective gloss, while the Sportive has a muted matte exterior. Backing up the Noire designation, the Sportive model goes completely black, with nearly nothing left to show off any sort of metallic sparkle. The Elegance, however, looks a bit more dressed up with aluminum and silver accents. Both feature Noire script graphics, including on the underside of the rear wing. The Noire models are limited to 20 examples total, and No. 250 will surely be one of the most interesting of the bunch.
The Noire Elegance and Sportive follow in the footsteps of Bugatti’s (and the world’s) most expensive release, the Bugatti La Voiture Noire. A coachbuilt homage to the Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic, the La Voiture Noire reportedly cost more than $18 million, with fees and taxes factored in. It was limited to only one example, and it was only one of numerous special launches that spawned from the Chiron.
For only having one car in its lineup, Bugatti sure has made a lot of different vehicles, and we recently found out it could have been more. In an Autoblog exclusive, we learned Bugatti also planned two never-before-seen coupes that would have been marketed alongside the Chiron. Unfortunately, they never made it through to see production.
With 250 produced, only 250 remain, and their availability is getting increasingly more scarce. Bugatti says 150 Chirons are already spoken for, which means only 100 are left to be claimed. We fully expect some of those to debut new bespoke features, new special editions and hopefully more coachbuilding.
February 20, 2020 / Comments Off on Bugatti Chiron Sport Edition Noire Sportive marks the production halfway point
If the rumors are close to true, the extra two seats — and we use the words “seats” generously — wouldn’t be the only break with Koenigsegg tradition. TSB‘s insider says the heart of the KG12’s hybrid powerplant will be a 2.0-liter, three-cylinder engine engineered with the carmaker’s camless FreeValve system. Combined with an electric motor or motors, total output is thought to be around 1,500 horsepower. If such a thing shows up at Geneva, predicted to be on display under a glass engine cover, it will be in the running for the wildest and most innovative propulsion system at the show.
Design standards like the wraparound windshield and dihedral synchro-helix doors are expected to make the cut, but those doors might be longer than usual so as to provide better access to whatever fits in the back seat. TSB writes that the KG12 will cost around €1.4 million ($1.5 million U.S.), with deliveries to begin in 2022 and production limited to 300 units.
One big question is whether the KG12 is, or has anything to do with, the affordable Koenigsegg supercar that’s been on simmer in the background for a few years. A year ago, reports said the car would come to this year’s Geneva show. However, the least expensive Koenigsegg has been imagined with the firm’s naturally-aspirated V8 paired with hybrid assistance, getting something like 1,050 hp, and a price tag of anywhere from €600,000 to €800,000 ($650,000-$850,000). We’ll have an answer in two weeks.
February 18, 2020 / Comments Off on Koenigsegg bringing a new hybrid 2+2 to Geneva?
Kevin Czinger — with a silent C — has spent the past 11 years that we know of trying out various automotive concepts in Southern California. The Yale Law School graduate who built hot rods as a youth in Cleveland co-founded Coda Automotive in 2009, which tried to get off the ground with a re-engineered Chinese sedan converted to an all-electric powertrain. Coda went under in 2013. In 2014. The next year, Czinger started Divergent 3d, which revealed the Blade supercar in 2015. Czinger’s point with the Blade was to convert automakers to novel production techniques, the Blade’s chassis and body created with 3D-printed aluminum alloy. In 2019, Czinger formed an eponymous company taking the Blade as the inspiration for the Czinger 21C hybrid hypercar. In a previous interview with Road and Track, which deserves a read, Czinger said, “We’re looking to combine computing power, science, and additive manufacturing into one system.”
The 21C could be that blend, having clearly come a long way from the Blade. We don’t know much about the coupe, Czinger preferring to wait for details until its debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. The moody reveal video shows off the suite of hypercar cues like diminutive overhangs, the fulsome fenders, angry LED headlights, plenty of vents, center-lock wheels twirling around giant carbon ceramic rotors and beefy calipers, a serious wing hanging off the back, and what looks like a top-mount dual exhaust. Tandem seating — passenger behind driver — carries over from the Blade, and the copious exposed carbon fiber bodywork hides plenty of 3D-printed components. The brace connecting the carbon fiber steering column housing to the instrument panel, for instance, looks a prime culprit for additive manufacturing. The full-width roller coaster brake light ensures everyone behind the 21C will remember what they’ve just seen.
The powertrain is an unknown beyond the descriptive that it’s a “strong hybrid” developed in-house to deliver “dominating performance.” Strong would be the correct word if the video can be trusted; at the 0:28 mark, the digital rev counter shows a redline beyond 10,000 rpm. We’ll know more come Geneva.
February 14, 2020 / Comments Off on Czinger preparing 21C hybrid hypercar for Geneva debut
Koenigsegg has a thing for the Geneva Motor Show, introducing its first customer car there, the CC82, in 2002. Since then, the Swedish carmaker has trucked wares like the CCX and CCXR, Agera, Regera, and Jesko from Angelholm to greet the world in the Romandy region of Switzerland. According to a report in The Supercar Blog, the ritual takes place again this year, with Koenigsegg supposedly debuting a concept called Mission 500. The concept, so the story goes, will preview the vehicle the hypercar maker plans to use to crack the 300-mile-per-hour barrier. The “500” in the name refers to 500 kilometers per hour, which equates to 310.6 miles per hour. There are rumors of two more cars on display, but the Mission 500 concept is the centerpiece.
Getting any production car to reach 300 miles per hour is a stellar feat, one accomplished last September by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+. The task is so difficult that every extra mile per hour beyond 300 could be considered its own Herculean conquest of several categories of physics. The Molsheim coupe ran 304.77 mph (490.48 kilometers per hour) at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien track. If Koenigsegg can hit the magic 500, that additional 6 mph represents a gargantuan achievement.
It’s not clear if the Mission 500 concept is a new vehicle or based on the Jesko. Company boss Christian von Koenigsegg has said he has a 300-mph variant of the Jesko in mind that only needs some extreme aero to manage the task. The CEO has practical math to work with for his claim, his company having got the Agera RS up to 277.87 mph in 2017 — that speed averaged after runs in both directions, unlike the Chiron Super Sport run that was timed in one direction only. If the Mission 500 is Jesko-based, we’d expect to see the 5.0-liter V8 amidships that makes 1,577 horsepower and 1,106 pound-feet of torque on E85, or “just” 1,262 hp and 941 kW on 95-octane pump gas.
Top Fuel NHRA racer Brittany Force set a national record last year at 338.17 mph through the speed trap, using a 500-cubic inch (8.19-liter) supercharged V8 with 10,000 horsepower to do it. The idea that we could see a passenger car with navigation and two cupholders get within 30 mph of that speed is outstanding. Even better is the idea that, assuming the Swedes pull it off, Hennessey or SSC might attempt to beat it. Come on, Geneva.
January 15, 2020 / Comments Off on Koenigsegg reportedly bringing ‘Mission 500’ concept to Geneva
Rimac says it’s going to make 17 prototype vehicles in total. As of now, Rimac has plans to produce and sell 150 C_Twos, so 17 separate cars for testing purposes is a significant amount. As one would expect, each of the prototypes will be made with different testing purposes in mind. For example, Rimac says one will be tortured in chassis rigidity testing, while another will be used for high-performance autonomous driving development.
The final production version of the C_Two is set to be unveiled at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, where Rimac will give the car a proper name — C_Two has only been a placeholder. Rimac went on to say that the production car will differ from the concepts we’ve seen in 2018 and 2019 “with improvements in design, ergonomics and performance.” Customer deliveries are scheduled to begin at the end of 2020.
The predicted power figures are still the same as before, as Rimac claims the C_Two will make 1,914 horsepower and 1,696 pound-feet of torque from its four electric motors.
December 17, 2019 / Comments Off on Production Rimac C_Two coming next year in Geneva, with prototypes testing now
Almost a year ago to the day, Nissan revealed the GT-R50 in its final production form, declaring the order books open for business. We have our first update from Nissan on how the super exclusive and rare GT-R is doing today. Turns out, you can still order one!
Nissan says it has received a “significant number of deposits,” but didn’t specify what the current number is. The company goes on to say that a “limited number of reservations for the remaining models are still available.” As of now, Nissan appears to be sticking to the 50-car limited production run of the Italdesign collaboration anniversary model.
With such limited supply, it may seem surprising that enough rich GT-R fans haven’t swooped in and picked these up. Let us remind you of the price, though. A single GT-R50 will run you north of $1 million — the base price converted from euros is $1,126,799. Make a little more sense why some are still available now? The GT-R50 looks like a superb car in every way, but it’s easy to see why Nissan could be having some difficulty selling a car that’s $1 million more expensive than the vehicle it’s based on.
For those who have already put money down on a GT-R50, Nissan says it’s in the process of working with those clients to finalize their custom builds. Owners can expect to see the cars delivered between the end of 2020 and the end of 2021.
The last bit of interesting news today comes in the form of the photos at the top. Nissan made some new renderings to show off the GT-R50 in different paint colors (we’re loving the green). If you want to see the prototype in person, Nissan says it’ll be on display at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show.
December 5, 2019 / Comments Off on You can still buy a million-dollar Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign
The Geneva Motor Show has been full of crazy supercars and sports cars. Ferrari, Italdesign, Pininfarina, and Lamborghini might be bigger names that Puritalia, but that doesn’t mean the company’s Berlinetta should be overlooked. It’s just as sleek, sexy, and as Italian as any of the others.
The car features a beautiful body obviously influenced heavily from the Puritalia 427 roadster that broke cover a while back. The Berlinetta is arguably the more beautiful of the two cars, though. It’s sleek and takes cues from other popular, beautiful coupes. Pair the styling with a carbon and aluminum chassis and a 50:50 weight distribution with the super powerful hybrid powertrain and you have a recipe for one of the best sports cars out there.
The Puritalia Berlinetta comes with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 up front paired with an electric motor. It’s a hybrid system that produces a whopping 965 hp and 920 lb-ft of torque. The powertrain connects to a seven-speed sequential gearbox that pushes all the power to the rear wheels.
With the powertrain and transmission combo, Puritailia is looking at a 2.7-second 0 to 62 mph time and a top speed of 208 mph. An artificial intelligence system manages the electronics, vehicle dynamics, and power. Puritalia will build only 150 of its Berlinetta. The price for the model is set at $627,000.
March 8, 2019 / Comments Off on Puritalia Berlinetta Is a 965 Horsepower Italian Land Rocket
The Porsche 911 GTS is an excellent car, one you might think could not be made any better. Well, the tuner company RUF Automobile GmbH is here to prove you wrong. RUF’s new GT car is based on the Porsche 991 generation of the 911 GTS. The company took the car and added a bit more power, among other things.
The RUF GT comes with a 3.0 liter flat-six twin-turbo engine that makes a super-strong 515 hp and 476 lb-ft. That’s Porsche GT3 levels of power in a GTS. In other words, it’s just plain awesome. It makes the car good for a 0 to 62 mph run of 3.4 seconds. That’s a tenth of a second faster. The top speed also increased from 192 mph to 199 mph. While that might not seem like a dramatic shift in performance, they are notable numbers.
The car gets only a few styling changes. New equipment includes bumpers, air intakes, rear diffuser, and twin tailpipes. That’s all that’s altering the look of the car. If you really want to make some additions to your RUF GT you can add a new ducktail rear spoiler or a big fixed wing. The wheels for all of the RUF GTs are a unique five-spoke design.
The changes to the Porsche aren’t life-altering, but they’re notable changes and worthy of some recognition. RUF does some seriously cool modifications to performance vehicles. The company brought two cars to the Geneva Motor Show: the vehicle profiled above and a special GTR Anniversary edition machine that’s a homage to the classic Yellowbird car. That car comes with a carbon fiber chassis and puts out 710 hp. All we know is that we want one of these machines from the German tuner company.
March 7, 2019 / Comments Off on The RUF GT Is the Porsche 911 GTS We Really Want
BAIC’s Arcfox GT is no joke of an electric supercar. It’s one of many supercars at the Geneva Motor Show, but the company has big plans for its electric beast. The company sells both a street and track version of the car and wants to expand globally with the vehicle. The Arcfox GT and another vehicle were showed off at the Geneva Motor Show, and it looks like a winner.
Both versions of the car are crazy fast and both versions get an all-electric powertrain. The street version provides 1,005 hp via four electric motors. It also features a super lightweight construction and can do a 0-62 mph run in just 2.59 seconds.
The track version? Yep, it’s even more powerful and faster. It makes a whopping 1,609 hp from a similar setup. We couldn’t find a 0 to 62 mph time on the company’s website, but we assume with that much more power, it’d have to be faster than the street version of the car.
“Arcfox is a beam of light that the BAIC Group presents to the world with its innovation and this beam of light is illuminating the way for us to move forward,” said company chairman Mr. Heyi Xu.
The company also debuted a crossover SUV vehicle at the show, so we assume BAIC Group plans to expand to regular consumer vehicle’s, too. It will be interesting to see how this vehicle and BIAC Group progresses and if it can successfully break out of China and onto the world stage.
March 6, 2019 / Comments Off on BAIC’s Arcfox GT Comes in a Track Version and a Street Version
We’re big fans of anything that goes really fast, and that includes quads or four-wheelers when necessary. Until now, though, that hasn’t been necessary. The Engler F.F. Suerquad is the supercar-quad creation we didn’t know the world needed, but it’ll do 0 to 62 mph in just 2.5 seconds. The world does, indeed, need this thing.
The Superquad made its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show and is the world’s first vehicle of its kind. There’s no cabin on this Slovakian machine. The driver straddles it like they would on a motorcycle or quad. The vehicle, however, is the size of a regular car.
Powering the Engler F.F. Superquad is a 5.2-liter V10 engine sourced from the VW Group. It delivers 850 hp. Pair that kind of power with a vheicle that only weighs 1,873 pounds thanks to a carbon, titanium, and magnesium construction and has a perfect 50:50 weight ratio and you have a recipe for some serious speed and handling capabilities. As we stated above it’ll do a 0 to 60 mph run in 2.5 seconds and it can travel up to a top speed of 217 mph.
The company plans to offer plenty of ways to customize its creation. Most of the vehicle is made in-house so you can assume the customization possibilities are essentially endless. We’d assume whatever the customer wants they’ll be able to get on the Engler F.F. Superquad.
March 6, 2019 / Comments Off on The Engler F.F. Superquad Is a Wild, Super Fast Creation
The DaVinci concept is a unique GT car from the Italian coachbuilder Italdesign. The vehicle is a homage to the true genius of Leonardo DaVinci. The car has a unique and super sleek design and a modern fully electric powertrain. The innovative design is special because it can be modified to house an internal combustion engine if needed or wanted.
The DaVinci as it’s shown at the Geneva Motor Show has an all-electric powertrain with two electric motors. If you were to put an internal combustion in the vehicle, Italdesign has a 4.0-liter V8 that will fit in there. Fitting that engine in there doesn’t change the car’s design at all, which is a good thing because it’s so attractive.
The Italdesign DaVinci is a pretty big car. It’s about the same size as a BMW 8-Series Coupe. It’s long, elegant, and sporty with some fantastic-looking gullwing doors. The interior is a technophile’s delight with three well-placed screens and a generally futuristic feel.
The DaVinci is just a concept. Italdesign made a point to say that it could be put into production with minimal changes to the design. Italdesign also says the design can fit many platforms that automakers already have, which should make it even more production viable. Overall it sounds like a super smart feat of engineering and design. We’d love to see a production version of the vehicle and its flexible design sounds exactly like what many automakers are looking for these days.
March 6, 2019 / Comments Off on Italdesign Reveals the DaVinci Concept in Geneva
Zenvo Automotive brought its car called the TSR-S to the Geneva Motor Show to be showcased alongside all of the other jaw-dropping reveals that have happened over the last day or so. The track-focused car was showcased in a Grotta Azzura blue livery. It’s a seriously beautiful machine and packs plenty of power to back it up.
The TSR-S comes with a twin-supercharged 5.8-liter V8 engine that produces a whopping 1,177 hp and a neck-wrenching 811 lb-ft of torque. Mated to that insane engine is a seven-speed transmission with paddle shifters. That combination is good for a 0 to 60 mph time of just 2.8 seconds. The car can make it to 124 mph in just 6.8 seconds. Zenvo thought it best to electronically limit the car’s top speed to 202 mph.
The engine isn’t the only thing about this car worth taking note. The hypercar also has what’s called a Zentripetal Wing. The wing can act as an air brake, and it can also help in the corners thanks to its multi-axis function. “Like all our cars, the Zenvo TSR-S is 100% Danish-designed and hand-built in an extremely limited number,” said marketing director Peter van Rooy.
Production of the car is currently underway. Unfortunately, Zenvo only plans to build five models per year. The company did not name the price for this car, but we expect it to be quite expensive.
March 5, 2019 / Comments Off on Zenvo Automotive Brings the TSR-S Hypercar to Geneva


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Before even starting her business, Cherie Warner-Richard says she had the “entrepreneurial bug.”
Growing up around his entrepreneur grandmother and his “tricky” mother inspired him to become who he is today.
“I feel like they laid the foundation for me to be brave enough to take on this challenge,” said Warner-RIchard, who owns Cee Wee Designs, a bag and accessories store.
Cee Wee Designs is among the businesses launching the new Southwestern Ontario Black Entrepreneurship Network (SWOBEN), which aims to serve as a “dynamic resource for Black business owners, entrepreneurs and non-profit leaders” in the greater Hamilton and Windsor area, according to them website.
From the island of Tobago to Hamilton
Warner-Richard says his business started back on the island of Tobago about 10 years ago, when he made a bag for himself.
“People see it and they ask me, ‘I like your bag. Where did you get it?’ I said, ‘Oh, I did.'”
He said when people started asking if they could buy one from him, he was confused, but then he thought, “You want me to make one and you’re going to pay me for it?”
As more people asked, Warner-Richard began to realize it might not be such a crazy idea.
He started moving back and forth from Trinidad and Tobago to Canada eight years ago when he got married, and eventually stayed in Hamilton.
Now, she sells her bags and accessories to him website.
He says his home inspires his designs.
“I’m from the Caribbean. We have a [bright] day, we like bright colors … I like to make statement pieces. I want you to love your bag, your earrings, whatever it is.”
‘I’m convinced I have something’
For Beko Mbeko-Edem, who was also at the SWOBEN launch event last December 5 in Hamilton, the inspiration for her hot-sauce business Beko Foods Inc. also comes from family, as he grew up fascinated with cooking.
At the age of four, Mbeko-Edem was already helping out in the kitchen making brownies.
But it wasn’t until he visited Nigeria as a child that he was truly blown away by the process of bringing food “from farm to table.”
Mbeko-Edem graduated from Humber College in 2010 and decided she wanted to start a business.
“There was no representation of African food on a basic level, or basic scale. It was not sought after in a way [accessible] in public.”
He said he tried a few different things, but in 2017, his third business attempt was successful.
“One day I decided to make pepper sauce. I didn’t really sell anything, because it was so hot.
“But I was convinced I had something and just decided to say, ‘You know what – I’m gonna get this flavor out there.'”
His hot sauces are now sold at several locations throughout the Hamilton and Toronto area, including the Nigerian restaurant Taste of Lagos, and through his own website.
A network for Black entrepreneurs
SWOBEN’s launch event also served as a pop-up market.
“Our focus is to see how we can empower Black entrepreneurs to succeed in their field of business to be the best,” said Henry Elui, manager at Empowerment Squared, which leads the network.
The network is funded through a $1.9-million investment from the federal government to Empowerment Squared.
“I really hope that as many entrepreneurs as possible can access the programs that they have to offer,” Warner-Richard said.
He added that, in his case, making bags is only half the business.
“You still need to learn the skills to do your accounting and bookkeeping, to do your taxes or contracts. So I’m really looking forward to the courses that [SWOBEN] will offer, and the help they will give to entrepreneurs.”
Elui said programs like SWOBEN help Black entrepreneurship, which is very “unique.”
“Entrepreneurship is a very lonely job, and the right advice doesn’t mean you can be great.
“So that’s what we want to achieve here … our approach is to work with a variety of partners and advisors who are consciously working with these businesses to accelerate their goals.”
Leo Nupolu Johnson, executive director of Empowerment Squared, said he hopes events like Dec. 5 are “not a one-off.”
“I’m hoping that we can leverage this opportunity to sustain it so that even after the lifespan of this program, the effort does not end.”
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to stories of success within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.


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In the first quarter of 2021, Xiaomi’s total revenue and adjusted net profit far-exceeded market expectation. Total revenue for the period totaled RMB76.9 billion, representing an increase of 54.7% year-over-year while adjusted net profit for the period came in at RMB6.1 billion, an increase of 163.8% year-over-year.
In the first quarter of 2021, revenues from Xiaomi’s smartphone sales grew by 69.8% to RMB51.5 billion year-over-year. Global smartphone shipments in the period reached 49.4 million units and the gross profit margin for the smartphone business was 12.9%.
Xiaomi’s online smartphone market share in mainland China jumped to 38.0% in the first quarter of 2021 from 18.5% in the first quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, it also expanded its offline retail presence in mainland China. As of April 30, 2021, the number of the retail stores surpassed 5,500, an increase of over 2,300 stores from December 31, 2020.
IoT and lifestyle products segment witnessed strong performance with revenue increasing 40.5% year-over-year to RMB18.2 billion.
As of March 31, 2021, the number of connected IoT devices (excluding smartphones and laptops) on its AIoT platform reached 351.1 million units.
The number of users with five or more devices connected to its AIoT platform (excluding smartphones and laptops) reached 6.8 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 48.9%. In March 2021, AI Assistant had 93.0 million MAU, and the MAU of Mi Home App reached 49.2 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 22.8%.
In March 2021, the MAU of Xiaomi’s mobile OS MIUI increased by 28.6% year-over-year to 425.3 million while the MAU of MIUI in mainland China rose to 118.6 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 6.4% and a net gain of 7.7 million users from December 2020.
MAU of smart TVs and Mi Box increased over 34.0% year-over-year in the quarter. Meanwhile, supported by the continuous growth of paid subscribers of TV internet services, the number of TV paid subscribers increased 8.2% year-over-year to 4.7 million as of March 31, 2021.
As of March 31, 2021, Xiaomi has also established cooperation with over 150 carrier channels (including carrier subsidiaries) worldwide.


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Moorgarth Ventures has sold Elms Retail Park, Elm High Road, Wisbech to Aberdeen Asset Management for £24.5m.
The deal reflects a net initial yield of 5.32%.
The property comprises a 48,571 sq ft foodstore occupied by Morrisons on a new 35 year lease (with break option at year 20), along with two retail warehouses let to B&Q and B&M with 8 and 10 years unexpired lease terms respectively.
Jamie Naughton, investment partner of Edgerley Simpson Howe, which advised by Moorgarth, said: “Our client has crystallised a profit on the scheme and the fact one of the main fund managers has bought it is of no surprise. With 70% of the income secured to Morrisons they are a preferred source of income at the current time for Institutions.”


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Half-Life: Alyx announced by Valve
Following numerous rumors, Valve has officially confirmed that it is returning to the Half-Life series with a new virtual reality game.
The game, titled Half-Life: Alyx, is described as a “flagship” VR title, but that’s all the information we have to go on so far.
Rumors originally claimed that Alyx would be unveiled during The Game Awards in December, but Valve has confirmed that the reveal will be happening this Thursday, November 21st, at 10 a.m. PT.
The last entry in the series, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, arrived on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in 2007.
Image: Half-Life 2: Episode 2
Matt is one of the longest-serving members of the EGMNOW team. An ability to go many hours without sleep and a quick wit make him ideal for his role as associate editor at EGMNOW.com. He often thinks back to the days when the very idea of this career seemed like nothing but an impossible dream.


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Google Won’t Scan Emails for Targeted Advertisements in Future
Google will stop scanning content of emails in future for serving advertisements to users based on content of their emails. Google has been criticized for this controversial advertising technique by privacy advocates. However, for free email service offering nearly 15 GB of space, most users were not much concerned about advertisements offered by Google in their mailbox, based on content of emails. The current decision of stopping to scan emails by Google comes from Google Cloud team and not Google advertising segment. Currently, over 1.2 billion people user Gmail’s free email service.
Google offers G Suite which includes office software, email and other tools for paying users. Google aims to address concerns of corporate users regarding privacy of email content. Google was scanning email content of only free Gmail users but whenever emails are shared between free and corporate users, the content can still be scanned. This was a major concern for some of G Suite’s corporate users. Google Suite competes with Microsoft and Amazon in cloud-based services segment.
Diane Greene, Google’s senior vice president of Google Cloud said, “Paying Gmail users never received the email-scanning ads like the free version of the program, but some business customers were confused by the distinction and its privacy implications. What we’re going to do is make it unambiguous.”
Ms. Greene announced Google’s move in a blog post on Friday. Greene informed that currently, over three million companies user G Suite services and the company has managed to double its user base over the past one year. Google has been investing billions of dollars in its Cloud segment and Amazon is offering tough competition in this fast-growing market. Google has not shared sales of its cloud division during its last quarter results. However, under the head ‘Other Revenues’ the company has reported 49 percent increase to $3.09 billion.
The changes will take place later this year. Greene informed, “Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization after this change. This decision brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalize ads for other Google products. Ads shown are based on users’ settings. Users can change those settings at any time, including disabling ads personalization.”
According to recent reports from scientific institution, NASA is get closer to the sun using a solar probe which was designed for viewing the sun at close range.
According to the hailing company, Uber will seize off all the self-driven tucks which currently are operating within the US highways following hauling of shipments and cargo on board.
Piezoelectric Bioceramic Market report focuses on growth analysis and historical & futuristic cost of Piezoelectric Bioceramic industry.
The research report gives detail analysis on Multistage Pump Market which is helpful to understand the previous situation.
Injection Molding Machine Market Report offers overall business strategies and market trends to those who are actively seeking an effective way to grow in the industry.


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The network said Wednesday it is the biggest advertising haul ever for an Olympics and topped the $850 million in ad sales for Beijing in 2008. There’s a lot more room for advertising, since NBC Universal is showing more than 5,000 hours of competition on NBC, its cable affiliates and online.
Top NBC Sports sales executive Seth Winter says the $60 million in digital ad sales triples what the network earned in 2008.
NBC says President Barack Obama has spent $6.5 million to buy national ads during the Olympics, while Mitt Romney hasn’t bought any yet.
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RESTRICTED trading across the hospitality sector in the coming months will cost more than 200,000 jobs, industry figures predict.
Emergency support is essential across pubs, restaurants and tourism businesses to keep them alive until the full opening in the summer, they demand.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates…
It’s estimated that 135,000 jobs will go by the beginning of April and a further 99,000 workers on top will pay the price for keeping the sector partially shut to mid-May.
Two hundred business leaders are today warning the Government that unless a substantial package is announced in Wednesday’s Budget more businesses will fail to re-open.
The move has been backed by bosses including David Flochel at Heineken UK, Gerry Ford of the Caffe Nero Group and Kurt Janson from the Tourism Alliance.
It comes as analysis by UK Hospitality say there will be £8.2 billion in lost sales by not opening on April 1.
They say: “There is a genuine fear amongst many in our sector that businesses are going to fail and jobs will be lost at the eleventh hour.
“After a year of misery, the end is now finally in sight. The Government cannot allow business to fail now, when the reopening of our sector is within touching distance.
“Members of the public are desperately looking forward to socialising with their friends and family, for the first time in over a year in many cases.
“If the Government does not act, they may not be able to.”
The sobering letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak says two thirds of firms don’t have enough cash to survive until the end of May – with many spending £10,000 per month on fixed costs.
The breakeven point for the sector that includes hotels and leisure venues won’t even come until June when restrictions may be totally relaxed.
The bosses are demanding the extension of the 5 per cent VAT rate, a full business rates holiday for a year and an extension of full furlough with no National Insurance contributions for closed businesses.
They also demand a cut to beer duty, no repayment of HMRC debts before July 1 and a solution to the rent debt crisis.
The delayed reopening across the country will see £8.2 billion in lost sales, according to analysis by UK Hospitality.
GOT a story? RING HOAR on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL [email protected]


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Ubisoft has released a new, lengthy gameplay demo for Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. Alongside Game Director Ashraf Ismail, players get thirteen minutes to explore the open-world of AC4. Gameplay elements range from hunting for lost treasures to sailing the high seas, there looks to be no shortage of content in this upcoming sequel.
This gameplay video includes the boarding of a rival ship, which shows off the many new gameplay mechanics that make up this new pirate-themed adventure.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag is due out this October for current and next-gen consoles, and PC.
- This article was updated on:March 8th, 2018


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LONDON -- European stocks dropped Tuesday, as the chemical and automobile sectors came under pressure following a mixed bag of earnings reports.
At the close, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index, which tracks Europe's 600 largest listed companies, edged 0.2% lowered to 235.6. The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx Index, which tracks companies in countries that joined the common currency, was 0.5% lower at 250.75. The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index was down 0.4% at 2841.3, while the Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index basically flat at 2695.1.
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Rocket at 25: a blast from CorVu’s past
CorVu was founded in 1990, and was brought into the Rocket family 17 years later in 2007. Based in Sydney, Australia, the first CorVu product hit the marketing in 1993, and the company expanded to other countries around the world within a matter of years. By September 1994 a London office had opened, with a US office coming a year later.
Andrew Aho, Rocket’s Managing Director and Country Manager for Australia, was part of the CorVu team, and recently uncovered two items from the company’s past. The first is a company profile from the December 1996 issue of MIS magazine. As Andrew explains “The profile was done because CorVu was an up-and-coming software company, and we had just been listed in the MIS Magazine Software 500. Justin MacIntosh was the founder and CEO and there are two customer profiles in the doc. The back page has a timeline of company highlights.”
The second piece, a 1998 company newsletter, was “an update for customers put talked about new customers, new partnerships, expansion and even the CorVu touch football team.”
The CorVu team has continued to bring new products to market since becoming part of Rocket–in fact Rocket Discover, our new Business Intelligence solution, was largely developed by the CorVu team! If you haven’t already, go take a look and see what the team has been up to.
Be sure to check back next week for the next installment in our Rocket at 25 series.


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ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 12, 2015--The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) R today announced that JD.com (NASDAQ: JD), the leading online direct sales company in China, will join the inaugural International CES Asia TM as an Official Industry Partner. CES Asia will run May 25-27 in Shanghai, China, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) and will draw global businesses to showcase the latest products and technologies entering the Asian marketplace .
"JD.com is one of China's top brands and a key driver of the Chinese economy as the country's largest e-tailer," said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, International CES and corporate business strategy, CEA. "CES Asia will showcase ground-breaking innovations launching in the Asian marketplace and China's largest online direct seller is the perfect fit for our show. We are thrilled to partner with JD.com and look forward to our dynamic relationship for the inaugural CES Asia."
The CES Asia show floor will span 20,000 gross square meters (8,500 net square meters) of exhibit space showcasing top trends including the Internet of Things, technology innovation and connectivity. More than 125 companies representing 13?countries?and?regions are currently slated to exhibit, from major economies including China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel Norway, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Global brands exhibiting include Audi, Audio-Technica, Continental, Digital China, DTS, Ford, Garmin, Gibson, Hisense, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, Monster, Scosche, Shanghai Moshi, Skullcandy Audio, Thinking Group, TomTom and Voxx.
"As the leading seller of innovative electronic products in China, we are delighted to partner with CEA?on?this important new technology event?in Asia," said Richard Liu, Founder and CEO of JD.com. "CES is world famous for introducing the latest and most exciting electronics to consumers, and JD.com looks forward to providing Chinese consumers a gateway to buy these next generation products."
CES Asia will feature three high-interest Marketplaces: 3D Printing, Robotics and Wearables and 14 product categories spanning the most influential ingenuities from smart home to automotive to sports and fitness. The full list of companies exhibiting at CES Asia can be found via the Exhibitor Directory.
Additionally, executives from global brands will speak at the event including Audi's Rupert Stadler, who will deliver a preshow keynote address at 5 PM Sunday, May 24.
CEA is co-producing CES Asia with Intex Shanghai Co., Ltd., a prominent producer of international tradeshows in China. Special co-organizers for CES Asia include the Chinese Electronic Chamber of Commerce (CECC) and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Product (CCCME). To register for the 2015 CES Asia, please visit CESAsia.com. For questions about exhibiting at CES Asia, contact CESAsiaExhibit@CE.org.
Note: All Journalists traveling from outside of China will require a J-2 visa.
About JD.com: JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) is the leading online direct sales company in China. The Company strives to offer consumers the best online shopping experience. Through its content rich and user friendly website and mobile applications, JD.com offers a wide selection of authentic products at competitive prices and delivers products in a speedy and reliable manner. The Company believes it has the largest fulfillment infrastructure of any ecommerce company in China. JD.com operated 7 fulfillment centers and a total of 123 warehouses in 40 cities, and in total 3,210 delivery stations and pickup stations in 1,862 counties and districts across China, staffed by its own employees. The Company provided same day delivery in 134 counties and districts under its 211 program and next-day delivery in another 866 counties and districts across China as of December 31, 2014.
About CEA: The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the technology trade association representing the $223 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative and regulatory advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships.?CEA also owns and produces the International CES ?V The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA's industry services.?Find CEA online at www.CE.org and www.DeclareInnovation.com.
About the International CES Asia: Owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) R and co-organized by Intex, the International CES Asia will serve as the premier event for the consumer technology industry, showcasing the full breadth and depth of the innovation value-chain in the Asian marketplace. Key global businesses will come to this new event to grow and reinforce their brand by showcasing the latest products and technologies to CE industry executives, foreign buyers, international media and a limited number of consumers from China. Attendees will have exclusive access to some of the largest brands from China and around the world, while celebrating the innovation that defines the CE industry.
About Intex: Intex is the sub joint venture company of CCPIT (China Council for the Promotion of International Trade) Shanghai, which started 1992. Intex is a prominent producer of international tradeshows in China, owning venues in Shanghai, and managing various exhibition venues outside of Shanghai. Intex Shanghai is the vice chairman of SCEIA, the Deputy Director of CAEC and the member of UFI. As the first venue management company that imported the first level pattern of management and experience in Shanghai, it is jointly invested by Shanghai Hongqiao E&T Development Zone United Development Co., Ltd., Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai and Istithmar P&O Estates FZE. Intex was the first international exhibition center passing ISO9001 quality certification in China and has a stand-out reputation in the domestic exhibition industry.
UPCOMING EVENTSTechnology & Standards Spring Forum March 24-26, 2015, Nashville, TN Digital Patriots Dinner April 14, 2015, Washington DC CES on the Hill April 15, 2015, Washington DC 2015 International CES Asia May 25-27, 2015, Shanghai, China CEO Summit May 25-27, 2015, Shanghai, China CES Unveiled New York November 10, 2015, New York, NY
CONTACT: Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
Allison Fried, 703-907-7603
Josh Gartner, +86 (10) 5895-9315
KEYWORD: UNITED STATES ASIA PACIFIC NORTH AMERICA CHINA VIRGINIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ONLINE RETAIL RETAIL OTHER RETAIL
SOURCE: Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
Copyright Business Wire 2015
PUB: 03/12/2015 12:00 PM/DISC: 03/12/2015 12:00 PM


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India has requested Uzbekistan to consider reduction of import tariff imposed on fabrics and made-ups, reduction in Higher MFN duty on RMG products and simplifying the procedure for registration and certification. India also sought reduction of import duty on leather goods and footwear. The Commerce and Industries Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and Abdulaziz Kamilov, Minister of Foreign Affairs and ElyorGaniev, Minister of Foreign Trade held detailed discussions on deepening trade and economic ties between India and Uzbekistan in a bilateral meeting held on Wednesday in the national capital. Commerce Minister expressed happiness on formation of an Uzbek India Trading House at Delhi as a Joint Venture Company. Commerce Minister suggested setting up and activation of a private industry led Joint Business Council to develop and enhance business relations at all levels including investments, trade in goods and services such as education and health in Uzbekistan and India.
She expressed the hope that if the draft agreement under negotiation between India-CIS Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Uzbek Chamber of Commerce is quickly finalized and the Joint Business Council commences work, then it would be a very positive development for enhancing bilateral economic and trade relations. Both the Ministers underlined the high importance of transport & logistics infrastructure for strengthening bilateral trade ties. Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister to become member of multilateral INSTC Agreement which would facilitate increased international transit cargo traffic through Iran. Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister for reduction of import duty on leather goods and footwear in Uzbekistan from current 30% to 10%, which is current MFN rate in India.
She mentioned that India could source finished leather from Uzbekistan. Commerce Minister also requested Uzbek Minister to consider reducing higher import duty on Indian engineering exports to Uzbekistan. Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister to consider reduction of Import tariff imposed by Uzbekistan which are comparatively higher especially on fabrics and made-ups (upto 30%), reduction in Higher MFN duty on RMG products which is 31.1% and simplifying the procedure for registration and certification.
Commerce Minister informed Uzbek Minister that existence of Non-Tariff Barriers such as import quotas and licensing, price and foreign exchange control, complex customs and administrative procedures, harsh sanitary norms and outright border closures have also been limiting inter-regional trade.Minister of Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan informed that Uzbek Government was seriously working to liberalise and simplify various procedures, systems and norms and expressed the hope that most of difficulties faced by exporters would get resolved shortly.Commerce Minister requested Uzbek Minister to simplify procedure for granting visa to Indian business men and tourists and expressed the hope that if visa issues are resolved, tourism will also receive impetus in both countries.


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- Decarbonisation could be the next industrial revolution
- Food, housing, and electric vehicles are all growth areas
- Investments can be direct or indirect, for example via managed funds
Responsible investing (RI) spans lots of different social issues and investment types. In this article we explore some of the megatrends impacting this growing area and the different ways, both direct and indirect, that investors can get involved.
Trend 1: Decarbonisation of the global economy is the next industrial revolution
Decarbonisation of the global economy has been called by some as the sixth industrial revolution, which shows the depth of its impact.
If you think about the impact previous revolutions have had on the economy and the market — from the original Industrial Revolution through to the most recent information and technology revolution — it's not hard to see the opportunities that may arise for companies assisting the decarbonisation process.
With 137 countries committing in the Paris Accord to a target of net zero emissions by 2050, this brings forth a multitude of opportunities from renewable energy to electric vehicles and battery technology.
We need to transition our engine supplies, our transport systems, our manufacturing and construction processes, and our agricultural practices. Almost every aspect of the economy will need to be transformed. And we are certainly seeing regulatory and policy tailwinds accelerating rapidly over the last months in order to aid that transition.
So, what kind of investment opportunities are available?
Some investment managers will focus on private equity that invests in verticals that are in some meaningful way reducing emissions, such as energy efficiencies, carbon markets, food production, or sustainable packaging.
Other managers may invest in more direct real assets such as large agricultural land holdings that are developing carbon offset projects.
Trend 2. Electric cars: the democratisation of technology
Consumer demand and affordability has brought electric cars to the forefront. During the fourth quarter of 2020, nearly one in six cars registered in the European Union was an EV. Now, hybrid vehicles sold last year comprised 12 per cent of all sales, and that’s more than double the level in 2019. This is not a fad. This is a structural change .
Consumer demand is changing, and the cost of production and delivery is coming down. This is a really interesting example of the way that consumer behaviours are driving change. Despite global vehicle production declining of the last two years, there has been growth within electric vehicles (1).
This demand has also been driven by governments issuing more stringent emission regulations in China, EU countries, and the US.
Given increases in regulations, stringent emission standards, net zero climate ambitions and mandates on charging infrastructure buildouts, this trend looks set to continue. And, with battery costs declining, these vehicles will become more affordable over time: the ‘democratisation of technology’.
With hundreds of new vehicles to enter the market in the short terms, investors should probably avoid trying to bet on which car company will succeed, but instead consider the supply chain for electric vehicles, for example, auto part suppliers.
An example company (please note this is not a recommendation!) is Aptiv — in mid 2021 it has a $40 billion market cap. It is a technology company that helps enable the safety of cars, providing vehicle architecture and software such as electrical distribution systems, engineered components, user experience, connectivity, security, and active safety. As we shift towards autonomous driving, software content in vehicles will become more and more important, and Aptiv is well positioned for this.
Other supply-chain options include battery components of the electric vehicles, as well as the commodities that benefit from battery demand which include copper, nickel, lithium, and cobalt.
Netwealth's 2022 Investing for good report
This research report examines investor behaviours and drivers for responsible investing (RI) in Australia and breaks down the Australian population into four RI investor segments. It explores their profiles, attitudes, and drivers to RI, and how to use marketing and brand tactics to appeal to this target market.
Trend 3: Food, ethical food
There’s a growing awareness of food and nutrition, especially with younger generations. We want to know what we’re eating, and where the ingredients are being sourced.
Consumers have a desire for a healthier lifestyle, which means movement towards foods with natural ingredients and subsequent increasing demand for healthy ingredients from commercial food manufacturing industry.
Adding to this is the growing awareness of the high rate of obesity in developed economies, which is arguably a strain on our healthcare systems.
As a result, the human nutrition market is expected to reach $465 billion by 2025, growing at a 6.6 per cent per annum (1) . Areas like as sport nutrition, weight loss, infant nutrition, brain health, personalised diets, and veganism are expected to grow as a result too.
Growth will be supported by growing middle class in emerging markets and a higher focus on nutrition among consumers in developed markets — especially given an ageing and increasingly sedentary population.
An example company (again, this is not a recommendation!) Dutch Company Royal DSM. They have evolved from being a coal miner about 100 years ago into a petrochemical company, to now largely being a nutrition and materials company. One of their focus areas is health and living, having developed plant-based meat, quality animal feed, probiotics, prebiotics, and omega 3 — all of which help the world eat better.
A DSM product called Bovaer, for example, tackles the impacts of animal farming, which is responsible for 14.5 per cent of human-derived greenhouse gases (1) . A feed additive, Bovaer prevents cows from releasing methane and is popular with farmers looking for economically viable, sustainable solutions.
Trend 4: Affordable housing: property investment that makes a difference
The benefit of funding social housing goes far beyond impacts on the individuals themselves. These broader benefits are for society as a whole due to the significant costs of homelessness, crime prevention, and healthcare costs.
Social bonds (as opposed to green bonds) are a vehicle that could be considered for such investment purposes, as they raise finance for initiatives that improve social outcomes for the community.
These bonds pay interest just like any bond, but importantly, the money that is borrowed is to only be used for predetermined projects. For example, a social bond would support projects such as social housing, gender equality or underprivileged education, whilst a green bond could be used for a wind farm, solar park, hydroelectricity project, low carbon building or low carbon transport.
Of note, other than green bonds and social bonds (which have a specific use of finance) there is a growing area of finance to the road to net zero, which is transition finance. These are general purpose bonds financing a companies’ transition to net zero.
An example of a social bond is Pendal Groups’ fixed income bond (again this is not a recommendation!) that is funding 83 social and affordable homes to the underprivileged. One of them is a social housing program in Western Sydney with brand new units and brand-new townhouses.
Pendal Group has partnered with one of Australia’s largest disability housing charities to better understand where the people they support want to live, what sort of properties they want and how those properties should be tailored. Pendal is making a financial investment and funding housing, as you would any property investment, but are delivering housing to a not-for-profit who can use it to support people.
These four megatrends are not just on the horizon — they’re here, and they will only get bigger over the coming years.
(1) How green innovation is changing the world for the better, and some investment options – Netwealth Trend Hunters webinar series, https://www.netwealth.com.au/web/insights/portfolio-construction-trend-hunters/


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Managing Partner and founder, Gaines Law Group
Phillip Faraone/WireImage/Getty Images
Scott Stuber, VP of Original Film at Netflix, is leading the charge to make the streaming company a major respected player in film, and transform streaming video’s place in the movie business in the process.
As the coronavirus pandemic shuttered movie theaters globally, Netflix became the king of the summer blockbuster with action films like “Spenser Confidential,” “Extraction,” and “The Old Guard,” which the company says were each watched by more than 70 million households in their first four weeks on the service.
The streaming giant conquered projects of critical acclaim last year with “The Two Popes,” “The Irishman,” and “Marriage Story.” And, Stuber, a producer and former Universal exec, has used his Hollywood ties to make inroads with cinema owners, an industry that previously clashed with Netflix for not offering theaters exclusive windows to screen its films.
Movies fill an important role in Netflix's slate. Netflix has said about one-third of its total viewing is films, a ratio that tended to remain constant despite catalog differences between regions. Films can also have huge international appeal, as the recent growth of the global box office has shown.
As more Hollywood studios launch their own streaming services, and take their films off Netflix, the company has beefed up its originals to satisfy subscribers and gain new ones. And it has created a new business model for blockbuster films outside of the theater.
"Scott has found, and continues to find, a balance between the traditional Hollywood model and Netflix's innovations," Noah Baumbach, the director of “Marriage Story,” previously told Business Insider.
Stuber aims to greenlight 60 original films a year with budgets ranging from $20 million to $200 million, including independent films, documentaries, comedies, non-English-language titles, and blockbusters.